Papal authority and the church

I have just read a superb article on Times Online by Andrew Sullivan regarding the involvement of the Pope in the various paedophile scandals in the Catholic Church. It seems, from this and other things I have read, that he does have a definite specific involvement.

I am inclined to agree that he has lost his personal moral authority over this issue, and that demands that the Church looks at the reasons why this is happening in so many places over so many years. This does seem to be a problem that is endemic in the Catholic Church as it is currently structured. I suppose that there are paedophile priests in most of the other denominations, just as there are paedophile teachers, policemen and probably dustbin men, but the Catholic Church appears to have a particular issue with it.

I am firmly convinced that the first step is for the Pope to remove the need for compulsory celibacy in the priesthood. There is no spiritual or biblical justification for it, the acceptance of married former Anglican priests recently has demonstrated that. The events that are being exposed demonstrate what a powerful force sexual expression is. I suggest that none of these priests were 'natural' paedophiles in their youth and, had they followed a different calling, they would have led normal, sexually fulfilled, lives.

The requirement to suppress the one major natural expression of our humanity; that which God created as an expression of the relationships within the Godhead, was bound to cause corruption. It is akin to making a rule forbidding the eating of any food with more than 20 calories in it! Yes, you will survive, but you will be deprived of the true fulfilment of a good roast dinner, or banoffee pie, or even a MacDonalds Happy Meal! And you will be a lesser person because of that, deprived of a sense of balance between rich and poor foods. The temptation to sneak bars of chocolate will become overwhelming. And once you've discovered the guilty pleasure, the temptation will continue and grow until chocolate is all you can taste, and you are blind to the beauty of a simple bowl of soup.

There will always be those who are called to a celibate life. It is a good and Holy estate, with opportunity for unceasing devotion to a life of prayer and good works. But in my experience it is particular people who are called to that life, often for particular reasons. The vast, vast majority of humanity, and that includes Catholic clergy, are called to share our love with a specific person, and to create new life in reflection of the creative power of God the Holy Spirit.

I would plead with His Holiness, as a first step to the Church divesting itself of all earthly power and wealth, that it releases its own clergy from the yoke of celibacy.